Former England paceman Mathew Hoggard urges England cricket to have shift in mindset
Hampshire batsman James Vince has been called up to the 14-man England squad for the fourth Test starting in Southampton on August 30.
Riding on half-centuries from skipper Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott and Joe Root, England put up a massive 293-7 from their 50 overs.
Virat Kohli was frustrated to be dismissed three runs short of his century but another fine captain's knock inspired India on their best batting day of the series in the third Test against England at Trent Bridge on Saturday.
The fourth Test ended in a draw late on day five, with home captain Smith's unbeaten 102 saving Australia and doling out another portion of frustration for England's bowlers, who toiled fruitlessly on a flat Melbourne Cricket Ground strip.
Du Plessis admitted that although it all depends upon the conditions, he is hopeful England would head into this summer's Ashes series against the Steve Smith-led side as favourites.
After resuming on 384-4, the hosts declared their first innings closed after lunch. Kurtis Patterson, in just his second Test innings, was unbeaten on 114 after posting his maiden century and captain Tim Paine was 45 not out.
England captain Joe Root refused to blame his senior players for the tourists' stunning Ashes defeat but lamented his own failures to lead the way with the bat against Australia.
Kohli scores brilliant century to leave first Test finely poised
England were 46 for two wickets against Pakistan at the close of the fourth day in Sharjah on Wednesday, chasing a target of 284 to win the third and final Test and draw the series.
Pakistan's spinner Yasir Shah had Ian Bell (40) stumped in the third session as England ended the day at 222 for 4 on Day 2 of the 3rd Test in Sharjah on Monday.
South Africa lost four wickets in the final session of a fluctuating first day of the second Test against England at Trent Bridge on Friday but finished with a defiant flourish to end on 309 for six.
England continued to hold the upper hand in the first Test against South Africa by taking a first innings lead of 97 and extending it to 216 by the close on the third day at Lord's on Saturday with nine wickets in hand.
Kumar Sangakkara, playing his final one-day international on home soil, set a record for the most runs in a calendar year as Sri Lanka thumped England by 87 runs in the last match of the series in Colombo on Tuesday.
South Africa moved cautiously on to 214 for five in reply to England's 458 at the close on the second day of the first Test helped by a gritty performance from Temba Bavuma at Lord's in London on Friday.
Rain denied England's batsmen a chance to inflict further misery on Australia A's hapless bowlers, washing out the entire second day's play in the four-day Ashes tour match in Hobart on Thursday.
'The less balls we can bowl at Steve Smith, the more balls we can bowl to batsmen at the other end, and the better for us'
Australia captain Michael Clarke was left to thank his bowlers and centurion Chris Rogers for the hosts' escape in the fourth Ashes Test on Sunday, having risked his team's winning streak by opting to bowl first after winning the toss.
Cricket Australia (CA) will push for up to two day-night Tests at next year's Ashes series despite the misgivings of captain Steven Smith and his England counterpart Alastair Cook.
England were caught out by Australia's aggression during the ill-fated 2013/14 Ashes campaign but captain Joe Root says they are fully prepared for short-pitched bowling and on-field chatter when the series kicks off in Brisbane next week.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Anurag Thakur on Thursday informed that star Test skipper Virat Kohli failed to make it to the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Test Team because voting happened in September and he made all the runs after that month. Despite being adjudged as the Man-of-the-Series with 655 runs in the recently concluded five-match series against England which the World No. 1 Test team won 4-0, Kohli missed a berth in the ICC Test team of the year 2016.
A fired-up Mitchell Johnson dismissed England captain Alastair Cook cheaply in a hammer blow for the tourists after Australia declared for a mammoth first innings of 570 to be firmly in control after day two of the second Ashes Test on Friday.
Incumbent Alastair Cook has admitted to having 'questions' about his role as Test captain following England's series loss in India with a match to spare and batting mainstay Root is perceived as a natural heir to the job.
Only Alistair Cook and Joe Root from the present English side played the 2012 series which England beat India.
Ravichandran Ashwin may have had a huge role in instilling self doubt in the England batsmen but his spin partner Ravindra Jadeja reckons that is has also got a lot to do with which team is dominating the proceedings.
Stuart Broad's five-wicket burst after David Warner's counter-punched put England in sight of victory on the fourth day of the fourth Ashes Test against Australia in County Durham on Monday.
India's off spinner R Ashwin owned the day's play with an all-round performance to put England on the back foot in the 2nd Test in Visakhapatnam.
Former England captain Graham Gooch has backed upcoming batting star Joe Root, saying that he is rapidly maturing into being more like England skipper Alastair Cook.
England's protracted search for a long-term opening partner for captain Alastair Cook could be over after teenager Haseeb Hameed showed great skill and maturity to score his maiden test fifty on debut against India on Saturday. The 19-year-old Hameed is Cook's 10th partner at the top of the order in the game's longest format since the retirement of Andrew Strauss four years ago.
Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly believes that England's batsmen need to change their mental approach against spin if they want to improve their showing in limited overs cricket.
A brief verbal spat broke out between Indian batsman Virat Kohli and England pacer Ben Stokes during the third one-dayer, leading to the umpires calling the home side captain and the bowler before the match continued.
IMAGES from Day 2 of the 1st Test between England and Pakistan at Lord's on Day 2
A sore and defeated Australia turned down an invitation from England to share a post-match beer after the tourists' humbling loss in the first Ashes Test in Cardiff, paceman James Anderson said.
Indian batsmen, including flamboyant and in-form skipper Virat Kohli, were made to toil hard before Ravichandran Ashwin's counter-attacking 57 enabled the hosts to reach 271/6 at stumps on the second day of the third cricket Test against England on Sunday.
Claiming that England had proved a few doubters wrong with their performance in the ICC Champions Trophy, batsman Jonathan Trot said he was "excited" and the team was looking to "seize the opportunity" in the title clash against India in Birmingham on Sunday.
Jos Buttler was rewarded for his good showing in the Indian Premier League with a place in England's 12-man squad for the first Test against Pakistan at Lord's, starting May 24.
India survived a scare before managing to draw the first Test against England, who gained the psychological advantage after enjoying the upper-hand for the better part of the five days, in Rajkot, on Sunday.
England pace bowler James Anderson took a career best of seven for 42 on Saturday to destroy the West Indies' batting on the third day of the third Test at Lord's and set up his team for a 2-1 series victory.
Wicketkeeper Jos Buttler is set to make his Test debut after being named to replace Matt Prior in England's 13-man squad to play India in the third Test starting at Southampton on Sunday.
The International Cricket Council appointed Gordon Lewis AM as the Judicial Commissioner to hear the misconduct case against England paceman James Anderson and the preliminary hearing will be conducted on July 22, a day after the Lord's Test concludes.